CRS: Agricultural Export and Food Aid Programs, April 15, 2008

From WikiLeaks

The CRS is a Congressional "think tank" with a staff of around 700. Reports are commissioned by members of Congress on topics relevant to current political events. Despite CRS costs to the tax payer of over $100M a year, its electronic archives are, as a matter of policy, not made available to the public.

Individual members of Congress will release specific CRS reports if they believe it to assist them politically, but CRS archives as a whole are firewalled from public access.

This report was obtained by Wikileaks staff from CRS computers accessible only from Congressional offices.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) administers programs to promote agricultural exports and to provide food aid, all currently authorized in the 2002 farm bill, the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act (FSRIA, P.L. 107-171), or in permanent legislation. These programs include direct export subsidies, export market development, export credit guarantees, and foreign food aid. Legislative authority for most of these activities expires with the 2002 farm bill in 2007, and the 110th Congress has been deliberating a new farm bill. House and Senate conferees are working to iron out differences between versions of the farm bill. Slowing the process are differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill and differences between the agriculture committees and the Administration over funding issues.